Brake for controlling rotary motion



July 2s, 1942. w. G. WILSON 2,2912 7o BRAKE FOR CONTROLLING ROTARY MOTION Filed Jan. 5, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet l @".MDWM

July 28A, 1942.

BRAKE FOR Filed Jan. 5, 1940 W. G. WILSON OONTROLLING ROTARY MOTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 f f D 11 k1 X2 77E/2% ES' 5 ,V @Mam Patented July 28, 1942 1U Nl T-El) STATES Pl T' EN T i0 F1251 CE.

` BRAKE FOR; CONTROLLINGROTARY -MOTION Walter Gordon Wilson, Winchester; England (Cljl88-177) 9 Claims.

This invention relates tobrakes for controlling rotary motion and has particular reference to flexible band brakes'adapted toI be tightened on rotary drums.

One object 'of the Ainvention to be hereinafter described is any improved form of brake, which -will be vIapproximately equi-acting, a-nd which comprises flexible members, which when the Y braking action is applied will -not distort the centre axis of rotation irrespective of the torque or the force of application, but which will nevertheless permit of having the slack taken up as wear develops.

Another object i the invention is toprevent any `vunnecessary wear -of the brake bands by friction when-the brakes' are inoperative.

Thel invention consists in an equi-acting flexible bandbrake comprising a single secondary brake element arranged between a primary brake element and the rotary member of which the rotation is to be checked, the secondary-element beinganchored at -about its centre to Iva fixed-point external of the Vprimary element and Yhaving two free ends, the arrangement-being suchv thatlwhen the primary-is tightened on the back of the secondary element-'an eflicient braking action is produced whether the rotary member is turning in a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction.

Reference -will'now Ibe made to theV accompanying drawings, in which:

FigureY lis a sidesectionalY elevation otra-flex- Afible band brake according to the invention.

Figure 2 is an edge View asseenfrom the left side of Figure l with certain'partsvomitted.

Figure 3- is asimilar View -as seen from the right sideof Figure 1.

Figure l is a sectional view of afdetail, and

Figure 5' isa horizontal section taken on the line 5 5 yof Figure 1.

Figure 6 is lafsection taken on the line 6-6 Figure 1.

In carrying the invention into-effect according to one'example, the primary brake element a of suitable material such as metal, and which Vis 'in the form of a band internally grooved as at 'b (Figure 3) is placed in positionaround the -rotaryy member-or drum shown by dotted lines, the rotation -of whichA is to loe-controlled, and

Vleft withtwo-ad-jacent free ends, cfd, Figure 1.

Y Such primaryelement` may either be continuous yor as shown it may be divicledas'Vv at e by a split joint into two sections and connected together by a junction-plate e'. One of theY free ends d lterminateslin-an-eye f-by which-itis pivoted at g to one end of a slack adjusting bolt h'forming a pull'rod andthe other -adja'centen'd c of the primary member a-is formed '-lwith ahooklike shoulder k.

The means for applying theb'rakef'may form part of a toggle system comprising a thrust pad lever Z fulcrumed on the pin m as shown in Figure 6, the 'fulcrum pin being supportedby and within a frame composed of'side hooks n, one on each side of the slack adjusting bolt h as seen in Figure 2 and also in the sectionalview Figure 6'.

The lower ends ofthe side hooks n may be anchoreddirectly t0 the bottom part of the gear box frame. Preferably, however, the lower' ends of the side hooks are -pivoted by means of a bolt o to the bottom end of a struti attached by its upper end to the vcasing of thegear box, forexample, by the anchorage bolt p in which case the ends of the side hooks, the strutand thebolt o are housed 'within a slot o' provided inthe framing p ofthe gear box.

To retain the side hooks n in `position when ie brake is out of action they are adapted to be frictionally held in relation vto the strut-'2J' by means of a U-shaped spring generally denoted by n' and shown in-detail in Figure 5. The centre part of the spring is attached by screw 'n2 to the strut 2J and the side limbs are doubled back as shown to provide -apairof yielding tongues n3 which each frictionally rgrip against the inner surfaces of the side hooks 1L. The spring may, however, be arrangedlconverse- 1y, i. e. it may be attached to the side hooksand grip the strut. The lever l near'the ful-crum end is forked the pin m' connecting the parts of the fork together, and the lever at its; lower part has a nose q to engage'with, or ride upon, the hooked end kof the primary brake member a. There maybe direct engagement between the parts but Figure 1 illustrates "a preferred arrangement according to which a'simplecompression strut r made in two vertical' parts, one on each side ofthe slack adjusting bolt/'1, 'is arranged intermediate of the'fthrustpad nose q and the hooked end'lc. The upper part of the thrust pad lever Z adjacent the fulcrm m is designed toengageby means of a notch or recess s, a projecting lug t, formed Von a table 'LL-on which is mounted a nut u that is screwedon the free end of the slack adjustingsbolt h.

The arrangement is vsiueh that the operating end of the `thrust padleverl forms a two-'armed `leverp'the respective Vleverage movements of 41which when operated around the "fulcru'm-im 'have the effect of simultaneously drawing towards one another the two free ends of the primary braking element a thus applying the brake as hereafter described.

Any suitable means may be employed for operating the toggle system which include the twoarmed lever described, and such means may consist of strut-like members as shown for example in the specification of my prior United States Patent No. 1,888,191 dated November 15, 1932.

It will be gathered from the foregoing that the toggle mechanism is arranged wholly on one side of the rotary drum, and that the necessary anchorage as at p or p as well as the various operating centres and force applying .points are arranged in, or closely adjacent to, a line :common to all, whereby a movement of small ambit only will provide the necessary force to apply the brake. It is also to be noted that the position of the fulcrum point m of the actuating lever Z relatively to the two arms thereof, may be so chosen that the respective leverage movements will impart equal or unequal movement to the two free ends of the primary brake element as desired.

A secondary brake element is tted within the primary element, and consists of a suitable backing w faced with frictional material x and riveted or otherwise secured to the backing as shown at x3. These together form the flexible brake band proper. It is of substantially the same cross-sectional width as the primary member a and is made in three parts w, x, w', w2, and are all fitted with a projecting external rib y to engage with the internal groove b on the primary element a as shown in Figure 3. Two of the .parts (w, zc and w2, x2) which together embrace about half the circle of the rotary member, are designed to be rigidly secured as by riveting as at a' to the free ends of the primary member a; the third part w, :c which embraces substantially the remaining half circle is left with two free ends and is not secured to the .primary member a but is adapted to have a sliding movement relatively thereto. For this purpose the third member w, is tted at about the middle with a lug or shoulder Apiece I that is allowed to radially extend outward through a slot in the primary element a where it is pivoted at II to one end of a pair of links I2 and the other ends of which links are anchored by pins I3 to a bolt I4 which is rigidly secured to any suitable fixture such as a gear box or other fixed frame indicated at I5 and locked by nuts I6, Figure 1. This attachment to the links I2 is substantially diametrically opposite to the free ends of the primary element a.

It is to be noted that the line of anchorage on one side of the axis of rotation, indicated at I'I, should be substantially parallel to that on the other side of that axis and the two lines will be situated at the same distance on each side from such rotational axis. The lines of anchorage may also extend in the same direction or in opposite directions. The slot II in the primary element a should be sufficient to allow the lug IIJ of the secondary element; passing through it a certain amount of freedom and when a braking action is applied, it will be effective no matter whether the rotation of the drum to be braked is clockwise or anti-clockwise.

As this class of brake necessitates `comparatively ne clearances when out of action, it is desirableto provide means Vwhereby when the brakev is not in operation the clearance is constant around the drum. For this purpose, the

half portion w, of the secondary element has its point of attachment to the anchorage links I2 under the control of a spring I8 which according to the example shown is of bow form and designed to keep the secondary element in close contact with the primary member. 'I'he bow spring I8 is held at one end on a pin I9 secured to the anchorage links I2, the spring being bent with a wide loop 20 over a second pin on the link, and the other end 2| of the spring yfreely presses upon the primary element. A fforce is thereby set up which tends to press the link outward and thereby draw the secondary element against the inner surface of the primary element.

It is to be noted that when the brake action is applied by raising the lever l, the side hooks n will be forced into contact with the primary band a at 7c', owing to the Obliquity of the compression struts r and the lpull rod h.

When the brake is released owing to the lever Z being lowered, the free end of the band a will move upwards along the edges of the side hooks n and as the secondary band :12, w is frictionally held to the primary band a at 2|, the upward movement of the end lc will give the necessary clearance at the top of the drum, while the downward movement of the other end g will aiford the clearance necessary at the bottom of the drum. The contact between the band a and the hooks n at 1c will control the clearance on the central horizontal plane.

By the Abrake mechanism described in the foregoing, an approximately equi-acting brake is obtained which will function whether the rotary drum is turning in a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction. Moreover the described construction of parts, when used as a reaction for a number of epicyclic gear groups, facilitates the repair or inspection of the brake members, since the brake parts may be removed or taken adrift from the top of the box, and if necessary the whole of the `gear groups may be lifted out en bloc. This is due to the use of the anchorage p and the strut p since there is in this `way no xed attachment to the box, as the only restraint is the slot o lat the bottom.

I claim:

1. An equi-acting flexible band brake comprising the combination with a drum the speed of which is to be controlled, of a free ended secondary band brake element embracing about one half of the circumference of the drum, Va primary brake band element with two free ends arranged diametrically opposite the secondary brake element and tting upon the exterior of the secondary element for about one half of the circumference of the drum, and directly fitting upon the drum for its remainder, a lug about midway on the secondary element, a slot in the primary element through which the lug passes to the exterior, means for anchoring the lug to an external xed point, and meansl for acting upon the free ends of the primary element whereby it is tightened upon the back of the secondary element for one half of the circumference and directly upon the drum for its remaining half, and allow for a slight amount of circumferential play between the primary element and the ends of the secondaryelement so that a braking action is effected on thedrum whether it is rotating in a Yclockwise or counterclockwise direction.

2. In a flexible band brake as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that said primary4 element comprises a main segmental portion riding upon the back of the secondary element, and two auxiliary segmental parts each embracing a part of the drum and forming part of the primary element.

3. An equi-acting flexible band brake comprising the combination with a drum the speed of which is to be controlled, of anchoring means, a secondary brake band element embracing about one half of the circumference of the drum, engaged medially with said anchoring means and having two free ends, a primary brake element with two free ends fitting upon the back of the secondary element and pressing directly upon the drum for the other half of the circumference, and means for tightening the primary element upon the back of the secondary element and the remainder of the drum, whereby a braking action is exerted upon the drum whether it is rotating in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction, the secondary element being grooved externally and engaging similar grooving on the internal surface of the primary element.

4. An equi-acting flexible brake band comprising the combination with a brake drum, a

secondary brake band element embracing approximately one half of the circumference of the drum, a primary brake element with two free ends fitting upon the back of the secondary element and pressing directly upon the drum :for the other half of the circumference, said primary brake elementl having a slot therein, a lug arranged medially of the secondary brake element passing through said slot, a fixed anchoring member, a link connecting the anchoring member to said lug, a bow spring mounted at one end on the link and being free at its other end to press upon the exterior of the primary brake element so as to press the secondary brake lelement against the inside surface of the primary l element clear of the drum, when the brake is out of action, and means for tightening the primary element upon the back of the secondary element and the remainder of the drum whereby a braking action is exerted upon the drum whether it is rotating in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction.

5. In a flexible band brake as claimed in claim l characterized in that said means includes a pull rod attached to one free end of the primary brake band, a toggle lever with fulcrum and means whereby the lever when actuated may act simultaneously upon the pull rod attached to one end of the primary band, and also act upon the other end of the primary band to draw the ends together and apply the brake.

6. In a flexible band brake as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that said means includes a pull rod attached to one free end of the primary brake band, a shoulder formed on the other free end of the primary brake band, a toggle lever with fulcrum, means whereby the lever when actuated may act simultaneously upon the pull rod of the primary band and also act upon the shoulder of the other end of the primary band to draw the ends together and apply the brake, and means whereby the shouldered end of ,the primary band receives a radial thrust against the drum to assist the braking action.

'7. An equi-acting exible band brake comprising the combination with a drum the speed of which is to be controlled, of a free ended secondary band brake element embracing about one half of the circumference of the drum, a primary brake band element with two free ends arranged diametrically opposite the secondary brake element and fitting upon the exterior of the secondary element for about one half of the circumference of the drum, and directly tting upon the drum for its remainder, a lug about midway on the secondary element, a slot in the primary element through which the lug passes to the exterior, means for anchoring the lug to an external fixed point, an eye at one end and a projecting shoulder on the other end of the primary band, of a segmental piece attached to the inside of the shouldered end of the primary band, an abutment surface on the exterior surface of the shouldered end, a pair of parallel side hooks, a xed fulcrum for one end of such hooks, a toggle lever with fulcrum arranged between the side hooks, compression struts between one end of the toggle lever and the shouldered end of the primary band, and also arranged between the side hooks, and means whereby the lever when actuaated will act simultaneously upon the pull rod attached to one end of the primary band, and also act upon the other end of the primary band to draw the ends together and due to the Obliquity of the side hooks and compression struts will produce an additional radial pressure upon the abutting surface of the shouldered end of the primary band.

8. In a flexible band brake as claimed in claim '7 the combination with the pivoted side hooks, of a fixed strut pivoted on the same axis as that of the side hooks, and a spring frictional gripping device between the hooks and the strut to position the formervwhen the brake is out of action.

9. In a flexible band brake as claimed in claim '7 the combination of a strut, with side hooks pivoted on a common pivot pin, an open ended slot in the fixed frame of the device to house the pivot pin, and securing means for normally nxing the upper end of the strut to a xed frame, the arrangement being such that when the said securing means are unfastened, the whole of the assembly with the drum may be removed en bloc.

WALTER GORDON WILSON. 

